At Day's End
by Sparks-of-Interest
Summary: She was told that she had to complete this mission alone, but will Tsunade regret sending her cherry blossom apprentice on this solo mission? She will, when she finds out that the Akatsuki are on the prowl...
1. The Mission

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or any of the plot lines, they all belong to their rightful owners.**

 _Konoha:_

Blossom pink hair swayed with her lower half as she walked into the rather large building, currently home to the fifth Hokage, as she had so much work to do she could hardly go home. The soft click of her heels through the large concrete corridor came as a satisfying sound to her ears, assuring herself that she had indeed not gone deaf from the previous incident. Naruto had visited her apartment in order to inform the pinkette that she was to meet with Tsunade-sama for a new mission she had been assigned to. Although, instead of telling Sakura in an indoor voice, he decided to yell into her ears,

"OI SAKURA! YOU HAVE A MISSION!" resulting in a headache for both of them, but his because of an unseen flying fist to the face. He then stomped off mumbling something about how she was always so mean or harsh towards him.

Sakura was about to knock on the large wooden doors in front of her, but an angry voice on the other side said

"The door's open!" before she had the chance to. Sakura entered, a little anxious of what her mentor would ask of her when she was in such a mood, and stood right in front of her desk next to a trembling Shizune. Tsunade-sama faced her with a somber look in her eyes as she began her lengthy and apparently worrying task of informing Sakura of her new mission.

"Now Sakura, I am regretfully understaffed at the moment, so I have no other choice to send you on this A-Class mission. You are to go and retrieve some herbs from the Village Hidden in the Sand, Gaara will be waiting for you at the gates with the herbs in a sealed box.". the blossoms eyes slightly widened and returned to their original size.

' _She is finally going to give me a solo mission!'_ Sakura thought. Tsunade-sama hadn't given her any solo missions, or anyone for that fact, after she had heard that ninja were getting slaughtered by the mysterious Akatsuki group, who had already taken and killed 4 Jinchuuriki's. Sakura couldn't believe her ears and thought that maybe they _had_ been damaged by Naruto. She suddenly realized that Tsunade-sama was staring her, most likely expecting some sort of answer to a question she didn't hear.

"Sorry?" she stated sheepishly before looking elsewhere in the room, avoiding her mentor's piercing glare.

"I said, you may think that this mission will be easy, but in reality you will need to handle this with the upmost care and stealth. The herbs that you are transporting are medicinal and are needed in order to heal some ninja down in the hospital, but they could also be used to heal a currently sick member of the Akatsuki.", she finished with a sigh.

' _Well at least she knows I can handle myself! Now I don't have to be bothered by Naruto and Sai.'_ Sakura inwardly sighed to herself.

"Remember Sakura, you must remain vigilant at all times, now go and pack, you must leave before dawn tomorrow in order to avoid suspicion. No one is to know your location or what this mission is about. Clear?" Tsunade-sama questioned as she stood from her chair and looked Sakura dead in the eyes.

"Clear, Tsunade-sama!" Konoha's cherry blossom shouted before being dismissed to go and prepare for the mission.

 _Akatsuki Hideout:_

"Well what if I don't want to?!", the obnoxious voice could be heard from the other side of the hideout as Pein assigned a man with stitches all over his body and another with violet eyes filled with hatred and anger.

"It's for medicine for Itachi, if you don't want to go Hidan, that's too bad.", their leader directed them towards a map on the left side of the meeting room. "The herbs are about to be transported between the Village Hidden in the Sand and the Village Hidden in the Leaves. You must take extra care with the herbs, for if they are damaged even the slightest bit, we will not have enough to make the medicine for Itachi's eyes. The meeting point where all of this is taking place is at the gates of Sand, but it is to be disguised as an ordinary merchant trade. Now go!" and with that, the two members set off into the inner workings of the hideout and through the opening appearing as a wall of rock, into the forest shadowed by darkness surrounding the hideout.

 _Konoha:_

Sakura walked towards the looming Konoha gates and looked to where the sun would usually rise as she noticed the small slivers of sunlight peeking out over the mountain, taking that as a sign to hurry along, she picked up the pace and said her goodbyes to the guards at the gate.

It took several days before Sakura reached a village near Sand and decided to take some long deserved rest in a hotel for once, instead of sleeping on the ground. She walked into the hotel and paid for the night, the lady giving her a nice smile as she handed her the money, walked up to her room and immediately removed the cloak she was wearing. Sakura decided that she needed to take a shower and go to bed early so that she could again wake up early enough to avoid suspicion from other ninja in the area. Taking off her red top and black skirt, she grabbed a towel and headed towards the shower.

10 minutes later, she stepped out feeling refreshed and replenished, ready to get a good night's rest before meeting with the Kazekage tomorrow, Gaara, who she was good friends with. Sakura was looking forward to meeting him again, it had been so long since she had seen him. She changed into some pajama pants and an old t-shirt as she got into the bed and realized how tired she was, giving into the exhaustion, closing her eyes and letting the unconsciousness take her over.

 _Near Sand:_

The two Akatsuki members landed in a clearing to set up camp for the night, one still grumbling about having to go on this mission in the first place.

"Why did I have to come on this mission, I mean, it's so fucking boring!" Hidan had been complaining for the past couple of days. It had taken quite a while for them to get to Sand and Kakuzu had not let them have a good long rest before now.

"You need to learn to stop complaining about everything that happens to you, Hidan." Kakuzu stated simply while examining his stitches, making sure they were still in perfect condition, ready for any sort of fighting or close-combat.

"All I'm saying, is that we need some down time, maybe a chick around the place, or better yet two! Get my meaning?" Hidan questioned his partner but felt as if he was talking to a brick wall, Kakuzu was again uninterested with whatever Hidan was saying. "Fine, don't talk to me you stupid fucking asshole…" Hidan mumbled as he set off to the river he had seen earlier in order to clean himself, Jashin wouldn't like it if he let himself remain dusty and dirty.

Kakuzu started the fire and started cooking the small amount of rabbit he had left from catching this morning for breakfast. _He's an immortal_ he thought _he doesn't need to eat; therefore, I am not going to waste it on him._


	2. Akatsuki Closing In

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or any of the plot lines, they all belong to their rightful owners.**

 _Sakura:_

Sakura woke up feeling something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but she pushed it to the back of her mind so she could dwell on it later. She got up and dressed herself as she packed up her laid out weapons and unlocked the window to let some fresh air into the room, feeling cramped in the small hotel room. She looked out of the window and down at the scenery below, market stalls setting up for the day that had yet to begin and a lake beyond that, trees overlooking the whole thing. The trees surrounding the village were part of a forest that spanned for miles on end, Sakura wondered if maybe she should come back here at a later date, maybe with someone, after all, it was sort of romantic.

After a few minutes, Sakura decided to leave the small room and begin the short journey to Sand. She walked out the door towards the reception and handed the lady at the desk her key, she looked tired and was too busy drinking her coffee to notice the small smile Sakura had on her face. Sakura found it amusing how the lady had yawned as she left to go and put the key in her office, she found it quite funny how the lady couldn't keep one eye open, and yet Sakura was already about to head off her mission before dawn had the chance to peek out from behind the hills. Sakura pushed the amusing thought out of her mind as she focused on sending chakra to her legs and ran off into the forest.

It only took an hour before she had almost arrived at the gates of Sand, when Sakura decided it would be a good opportunity to change into her disguise. She was supposed to resemble a merchant, Tsunade-sama had told her that she must remain inconspicuous throughout the entire mission. Under no circumstances was she to reveal her identity, otherwise the whole mission could be compromised. So Sakura found a clearing, checked the area for chakra signatures and when she was satisfied there was no one even remotely near her, activated her transformation jutsu. The now very different Sakura, pulled a hand mirror out of her pocket and looked at her reflection.

Hazel eyes stared back at her from the reflective glass, staring into a different pair of eyes others would recognize as yours was always a weird sensation. Sakura looked over her hair which appeared to be dark brown, long waves and smooth skin which was now slightly tanned, not as pale as _she_ usually was. Even her height had changed; she was so short! Not that anyone was there to notice, but she could hardly reach her bag she had put in a hole in the tree closest to her. Thank god she was a ninja, otherwise she would have had to jump like a child to be able to reach it, instead Sakura simply leaped onto a branch and reached into the hole to grab her bag. Finally, she was satisfied with her disguise, as she set off again towards Sand.

 _Hidan and Kakuzu:_

"How many times do I have to tell you Hidan, STOP COMPLAINING!" Kakuzu had already had his fill of Hidan's constant swearing, but add his lazy personality onto that, and suddenly, Kakuzu is at his wits end.

"But- ", Hidan started,

"NO BUT'S" Kakuzu ended the conversation quickly, before Hidan could get another word in.

"Fine... No need to fuckin shout at me…." Hidan mumbled as he continued walking on the trade route to Sand with his, debatably, _good_ partner.

 _Sand:_

Sakura walked up to the gates of Sand, completely oblivious to the sun which had risen as she had entered the desert and hour ago, mainly focused on which venders were Temari and Gaara. She walked into the market just inside the gates, Sakura strained her ears to hear that special code sentence that Tsunade-sama had set up with Gaara in order to make sure that he knew it was her and not a member of the Akatsuki. If she didn't hear them say it, then she would have to go with the back-up plan, going into every shop and asking where the supposed "Medical Supplies" stall was. Only there was no such stall.

"Look at all that weaponry! That store must be getting a lot of customers with all that merchandise." This conversation caught Sakura's attention as she directed her gaze towards the topic of choice for many merchants touring the market. She walked over to the infamous weapons store and look at the merchandise, ' _Well I can see what all the fuss is about! I mean, look at all this amazing shit!'_ Sakura thought, interested in the types of swords, currently hanging on the wall.

"Can I help you Miss?" a voice called out to Sakura as she made her way around the store. She turned around to find, what looked like the owner of the store, looking at her with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. The man had long brown hair and sapphire blue eyes, which in her mind were quite distracting, he wasn't as short as she was, in fact, her towered over her.

"I'm just browsing, thanks." Sakura said as she continued on her path through the store, looking at the various sharp objects in glass cases on display. The man, however did not take that as his cue to leave, as he remained by her side as she walked around the store. Eventually he lost interest and decided to do the exact same thing to another customer that had just entered the store. Sakura thought he looked vaguely familiar, as curiosity beckoned her to walked over to talk to him, "Sorry, do you know where the Medical Supplies stall is? I've been looking for it all morning." She stood there and expected the man to simply brush her aside in order to help his current customer, instead he walked over to behind the counter to where his assistant stood and asked,

"Would you like red or blue for the colour?".

 _'Sorry, what? What in the hell is he- oh ok.'_ Sakura was at first confused and then remembered the code sentence. "Red, please." She stated with as much disinterest as possible.

"And for the ribbon?" he asked, a glint in his eyes, trying to determine if she was indeed the Konoha ninja. The assistant practically glared daggers at her as she answered the man's question.

"I don't need one, I have my own wrapping thanks." Sakura said as a smile adorned the face of the man who then handed her a sealed wooden box, which had been painted a deep red colour. Her eyes glazed over the assistant as she realized that it must be Temari, she quickly gave her a smile, which was returned. She muttered a thanks as she walked out of the door and noticed the position of the sun in the sky. Determining the time from that, she set off through the gates of Sand, to begin her long journey to Konoha.

 _Hidan and Kakuzu:_

Hidan was bored, you could tell that much from just a glance. Hidan and Kakuzu had been walking around the market stalls for over an hour, and there had been no sign of anyone suspicious, or even mildly attractive. They were currently touring a weapons store that had caught Hidan's attention, he needed some new kunai and katana, plus the ones here looked like good quality for the price.

"I'm just browsing, thanks." A smooth voice answered the annoying store owner's question and Hidan immediately perked up.

' _That silky voice has to belong to a hot body! Where did it come from?'_ the silver haired ninja asked himself as he scanned his surroundings for the alluring sound. He spotted a brunette with hazel eyes and felt disappointed at the face of the voice he had heard. _'Damn, I was hoping it would be some fucking hot chick!'_ Hidan sighed inwardly and turned his attention to a rather large scythe that was hanging on the wall. ' _Mine's much better than that piece of fucking shit.'_

"Sorry, do you know where the Medical Supplies stall is? I've been looking for it all morning." Again Hidan turned to meet the holder of the voice, he was thinking that maybe he could overlook her unattractiveness and simply listen to her voice, day after day.

' _I'd love to know what it sounds like while she's in bed...'_ Hidan smiled to himself, imagining the thought of her in bed.

"Would you like red or blue for the colour?" Hidan was currently hiding in a corner of the store, listening in on the conversation, when he heard this unusual question. She wasn't buying anything, she had only asked where the Medical Supplies stall was, which in itself was a little weird, as he had been walking around all morning and hadn't seen anything resembling medicine. He carefully watched the conversation taking place, eyes like a hawk on the merchant and trader.

"Red, please." ' _Now she's answering him?! What the fuck is going on?!'_ Hidan's thoughts were running wild, soon coming to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, this was the medicinal herbs deal between Sand and Konoha that they were supposed to 'disrupt'.

"And for the ribbon?" the store manager asked. At this point, the manager and assistant were both glaring at the merchant and trying to decipher her, as he was.

"I don't need one, I have my own wrapping thanks." The girl said with finality in her voice, to which both the manager and assistant lit up with delighted smiles and instantly handed over a sealed, red wooden box. Hidan was now sure that this was their mission, he was glad it was over and he could now just go back to the hideout and relax for a while.

"I see you have realized as well." Kakuzu stated from beside him as they both watched the brunette walk out the gates of Sand and into the desert that surrounded the hidden village. Hidan simply nodded at his partner, as they both followed her out into the windy desert.


	3. Hello, Sweetie

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or any of the plot lines, they all belong to their rightful owners.**

 **IM SO SORRY IM LATE! I have been working on my psychology internal assessment for the IB program. I promise that I will upload another chapter in a few hours as an apology to you guys! As always, thanks for reading!**

 _Sakura POV:_

She was most definitely screwed. Sakura was dead. She had already accepted that fact, but what scared her was the pain to come before-hand. The two men that stood before her, though handsome in comparison to her teammates, wore cloaks made of black fabric and red clouds with white outlines printed on them. Tell-tale signs of an Akatsuki member, adding the fact of the rings each wore on their fingers to symbolize their allegiance with the murderous group.

Sakura stood frozen in place as the silver-haired Akatsuki member approached her carelessly, making the girl twitch in annoyance and then the smallest bit of fear started to creep up her spine as she realized just how utterly screwed she really was.

"So what is a little Konoha ninja doing so far away from home, huh?" the silver-haired man taunted as she observed his partner, who only stood in complete silence, seemingly harmless. Though Sakura knew better, if he was in the Akatsuki, then he was most certainly one of the most dangerous ninja she would ever meet.

"I might be away from home, and you might be dangerous- "

"Oh I assure you, we are little kitten." the man with the scythe, purred as he interrupted her. Sakura showed the disgust on her face at the nickname she had been given.

"And I assure _you,_ that I am not one to mess with either." Sakura finished, letting the threat she had made linger in their minds a little longer. Though not a second later, the quiet man covered in stitches spoke up.

"I'm sure we'll be able to cope." He stated, the sarcasm lacing his every word. Sakura pulled a kunai out from her pouch underneath the cloak that had kept the sun off her back during the day, aimed it at the silver-haired maniac as her continued to walk closer towards her.

"Oh come on, kitten, I'm not _that_ scary am I?" the maniac was still walking closer and closer and Konoha's cherry blossom wasn't going to admit that the intimidating gaze he was currently giving her was terrifying. No, she wasn't going to admit that she was scared. At least not to their faces, or those of her comrades.

The stitched Akatsuki member began unlacing his stitches and apparently decided to end the conversation his partner and herself had been having. Sakura decided it would be wise to keep up her charade and didn't stop the chakra flow she had dedicated to keeping her disguise from slipping.

"Have it your way then!" Sakura yelled as she dodged the incoming hit from the masked man and launched herself at the man with the large scythe, catching him off guard with her speed. He obviously didn't expect her to be as fast as she was. He was wrong.

 _Hidan POV:_

This bitch was crazy fast! He hadn't realized how strong she was either, so went she had sent a chakra filled punch his way, he simply flew across the entire field within a second. He had to admit, she was incredible for someone her age, and if she wasn't their target, he might have even considered keeping her for his own personal entertainment. However, Kakuzu would never allow that, she wasn't even an important ninja from stupid Konoha. They wouldn't be able to use her as leverage or anything like that, so Kakuzu said she wasn't worth the bother of capture.

Hidan crawled out of the crater she had created from the pure force of her strength of her fist, his back cracked, sending a wave of pleasure throughout his body as he pushed the bone back into place.

' _Jashin, she has no idea what she's doing to me!'_ the immortal man thought, smiling at the idea of more pain delivered by her. The immortal maniac lunged towards her turned back, just in time to sink his scythe into a log. Fuck, she was good.

"You're gonna have to much better than that to land your scythe on _my_ skin!" her sultry rang through his ears, forcing him to turn around and look at her toned legs as they smashed into his smiling face. Again, he was thrown, but this time, into his partner. Hidan didn't even have time to listen to his partner curse, before they were suddenly surrounded by flames and smoke. Debris was everywhere, it hit him then, that she had sent a chakra laced explosion their way.

 _Sakura POV:_

The smoke filled her lungs as she jumped out of the way just in time to escape the explosion she had set off. Hopefully Sand would notice the large amount of smoke and come to investigate the site. She hadn't been far from the village when they had pounced on her, trying to grab the box of medicinal herbs, her quick hands had kept it out of their reach, but that didn't mean she was out of the woods.

The two men looked familiar, Sakura was sure that she must have seen them in the bingo book, now she was just having trouble matching names to faces. The silver-haired man seemed to match the description of the man who had sacrificed a fair amount of Konoha ninja, Hidan or something. But the other man was a mystery, he had stitches all over, his emerald eyes staring into her own.

 _Unknown POV:_

' _Perfect, she's not looking.'_ the voice had hidden itself in the bushes off to the side of the field, which had now become a battlefield. His sky blue eyes were watching her move quickly around the battlefield as she dodged and evaded attack, after attack. The blonde-haired man, decided it best to wait until her chakra had dropped further, until he actually made a move to kill her.

 _Kakuzu POV:_

The little minx. She had almost landed one of her chakra laced punches on him three times now, and now she was going for a fourth or possibly an actual hit. Though Kakuzu could see that her chakra was beginning to decrease substantially now, and would most likely not last much longer. Kakuzu smirked beneath his mask, as he watched the Konoha ninja struggle to keep her calm façade in front of the two Akatsuki men.

 _Hidan POV:_

She was really starting to grow on him, he had to admit that she was incredibly strong compared to other kunoichi her age. But Hidan could see that she was starting to slow down, she had the small glint of hope in her eyes though, in hopes someone from Sand would have seen the large amounts of smoke. Poor girl had no idea of the man hiding in the bushes, who had killed of the ninja who had been sent by Sand to investigate the large explosion.

' _She had no idea, poor little kitten. Could almost feel sorry for her.'_ Hidan thought to himself as she just narrowly evaded his last attack. She was slowing down.

 _Sakura POV:_

She could feel herself becoming lethargic as the battle went on. This wasn't looking good for her. She would have to dig into the supply of chakra she had set aside for her disguise.

"Feeling tired, are we?" the Akatsuki member she had determined to be Hidan asked, taunting her. He had another thing coming. That was the one thought that crossed her mind as she released her disguise jutsu and her chakra flowed back into her network. "The fuck?!" were the only words she registered from Hidan's mouth as he saw her pink locks revealed and as she launched forward into the stitched man, knocking his feet out from under him in the process.


	4. Poor Little Kitten

**Sorry this is chapter is so short, I really just wanted to update as soon as possible to keep to my promise from yesterday. Anyway, thank you for reading my story!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or any of the plot lines, they all belong to their rightful owners.**

 _Hidan POV:_

Fuck, she was hot. Like insanely hot! Hidan hadn't realized that she was using a jutsu, she was just that good. Hidan had to struggle to hide his admiration towards her, and instead vouched to attack her instead while she was tied up, quite literally, with his partner. Kakuzu had used his stitches to capture the pink-haired kunoichi, leaving her utterly helpless, like the little kitten she was.

"Let go of me! Let _go_!" the pinkette screamed. She was beautiful, even more so than any other ninja he had seen, who would dare come near him anyway.

"Sorry, hot stuff, that's not gonna happen." Hidan smirked at the pinkette. ' _This is gonna be fun'_ he thought to himself.

 _Unknown POV:_

' _Oh shit oh shit oh shit!'_ the blue-eyed man thought as he suddenly raced out from where he had been hiding in the bushes, revealing himself to the other Akatsuki members and the pinkette. His stupid teammates had no _idea_ what they were doing! Pein-sama was going to be _so_ mad.

 _Sakura POV:_

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw a flash of yellow and white, as something flew towards her. The explosion that followed was just not enough to blow her to smithereens, but was enough to disintegrate the stitches that held Sakura and singe a bit of her hair. She immediately jumped out of range of the stitched ninja, Hidan and this new Akatsuki member that had appeared, he seemed somewhat familiar.

The blonde man turned away from her and started to throw punches at his so-called 'teammates', while they screamed at him to stop.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Sakura heard him shout. She wondered where she had seen him before, then it hit her. Deidara. _Deidara._ Now she was up against _three_ Akatsuki members. Though it was weird to her, that he had stepped in and stopped then, when Hidan and the other man had trapped her, with no chance of escape. "Don't you know who she is?!" she heard from Deidara, which only made her more curious of the conversation she was currently overhearing.

"Well isn't that what _you're_ for? Eh blondie?" Hidan mocked as he sauntered over towards Deidara, and he then proceeded to poke the blonde-bomb maker in the chest. This of course, increased his anger, and Deidara's temper began to flare before Hidan, threatening to kill the immortal.

Sakura decided to take this opportunity to sneak away, making an escape was probably the best idea in this situation. But she wasn't quick enough, as Deidara spotted her and again rushed forwards in her direction, crashing into a vulnerable Sakura and pinning her down on the dusty ground. The Konoha ninja cursed at how weak she was feeling, she shouldn't have used so much chakra in that last attack, maybe she would have been able to dodge the bomber's crushing, vice-like grip.

' _God, he is so fucking heavy!'_ she thought as she struggled underneath the large mass known as Deidara. He obviously noticed her squirming and held two fingers to her neck, making Sakura's world go black.

 _Deidara POV:_

Those two idiots were going to get themselves killed by the leader. How could they not realize this was the apprentice to the Fifth Hokage? Honestly, they really needed to brush up on enemy ninja.

"So what was the problem anyway?" Hidan whined as he picked up his scythe off of the ground and lazily walked over to Deidara.

"The _problem_ , is that this girl, seems to very important to the Leaf Village!" the blonde yelled, silencing Hidan, surprisingly. "And _you"_ he pointed towards them both "almost _killed_ her!" he finished with a loud sigh as he again looked down at the pink-haired girl lying unconscious on the ground. He sighed inwardly, ' _Pein-sama was going to kill them.'_


	5. Captive

_This is a re-upload of the chapter because i have been getting messages saying that it isnt right with the formatting or something, anyway, hope this works! Enjoy!_

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or any of their backstories, they all belong to their rightful owners. I only own my plot.**

 _Sakura POV:_

Black. That was all she could comprehend right now, especially with a splitting headache in the back of her mind. She couldn't seem to remember what had happened before she fell unconscious, she hoped that she hadn't fainted or something embarrassing like that, in front of her friends. They probably would have laughed, especially Naruto. She searched her mind for anything, just something to grasp onto, some little word or image that would instantly make it all clear again. But the only thing that came to her mind was a face, silver hair, violet eyes and an odd smile pointed at her. Many would believe it to be a malicious smile, but to Sakura, it only seemed comforting to look at. It looked like there was something hidden behind the maliciousness of it all, something warm and calming.

Sakura began to notice that she felt very comfortable, wherever she was, as if on a cloud. She turned over and slammed into a harder part of the cloud. Her eyes fluttered open, only to be met with a chiseled chest.

"Like what you see?" a husky voice whispered in her ear and immediately Sakura was on high alert. Her head moved with her darting eyes in an upward direction, landing on a smug smile and a violet stare. Sakura scowled and tried to move, only to find that she could do no such thing, seeing as she was currently being embraced by the man she would consider a devil, if she had not already met his stitched friend.

"Ugh." Was all she could say before the large man untangle his arms from around her, getting up from, what Sakura presumed was, his bed. The rosette's theory was further proven when she found multiple weapons on a desk across from her, and Hidan's scythe hanging on the wall, seemingly an ornament. But Sakura knew what kind of damage that scythe could do to the human body.

The silver-haired man then walked towards the door, "If you would like, you can come have dinner." He stated as he walked out of the room. Sakura was considering beating the shit out him right there and then, until a loud growl came from her stomach, informing her that she was extremely hungry. Realizing this, the rosette then decided it would be unwise to beat the man who was offering her food, so she begrudgingly rose from the comfy bed to stalk out of the room.

Once she reached the door, she found Hidan waiting for her, with that annoying smirk on his face again. He turned around and started sauntering towards what she assumed, was the direction of the kitchen, checking over his shoulder to see if she would follow. Before she could comprehend what was going on in her haze of hunger, she heard her own footsteps against the dusty, concrete floor.

 _Hidan POV:_

He had been waiting outside the door, making sure that she didn't get lost, which would probably end up leading her in the direction of the exit. Of course, as soon as he had left, his ears were greeted by the sound of a low rumble from inside the room, then the shuffling of bed sheets and footsteps on carpet. He had to restrain from laughing, or else he would wake up Deidara in the room down the hall, and he knew from previous experience, that it wasn't a good idea to wake the blonde up. He did need his _beauty_ sleep, after all, he was ugly as _fuck_.

Hidan nearly fell over when he saw how the pink-haired bitch who had put up such a fight, was simply standing outside the doorframe looking at him, with a look that he couldn't quite discern. A little uncomfortable, the Akatsuki member turned on his heels and waited for the footsteps that eventually fall, signaling she was following. He looked over his shoulder quickly when he didn't hear anything, finding that she hadn't moved an inch from where he had left her. Looking back towards the hallway, he finally heard quiet steps approaching him from behind. He quietly smirked to himself, thinking that she might be obedient.

' _Good'_ was the thought that crossed his mind as they neared the kitchen after making enough turns to confuse and disorientate the cherry blossom now beside him. He had to admit, she must be brave to not cower in fear at the closeness between them as they made each turn and twist through the hideout.

He heard yet another growl from the young girl and this time turned to her with a raised eyebrow and a small, malicious smile on his face, before being punched in the nose by a fist. Hidan immediately through a punch in her direction, but was only met with air and then wall, cracking under the pressure of his strength. Hidan let loose a monstrous growl of his own and turned to find Kakuzu with an angry look on his masked face, and killer intent laced in his voice as he spoke.

"You're _late_!" he shouted at the Jashinist, and Hidan was nearly knocked off his feet at the force of the next punch to his chest. He looked down at a chakra infused fist, now retreating from him and towards its owner.

' _That fucking_ bitch _!'_ was all he could think before he sent his fists flying towards the little Konoha ninja who had dared to hit him. Though before his punches could hit their marks, Kakuzu leapt in and immediately silenced them both with his stitches.

"Hidan, you have a _meeting_. So go!" Kakuzu again shouted at him and Hidan spun towards the meeting room. but not before hearing Kakuzu speak to the bitch. "And you, are spending the night in a cell, thanks to that little outburst."

' _The bitch got what she deserved. Maybe I should pay her a visit later on tonight so I can teach her a 'lesson'.'_ That thought pleased him, and pushed him to go faster so as to get this meeting over with. He laughed quite loudly to himself, after the meeting, then, he would have a little fun.


	6. Alone

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or any of their backstories, they all belong to their rightful owners. I only own my plot.**

 _Sakura POV:_

Sakura stared up at the stars through the small barred window, sighing and thinking to herself how stupid she was to get herself into this situation. The horizontal shadows fell on her face, as the memories of the short fight had resurfaced in her mind, the pink-haired girl decided to stop trying to change the past, there was nothing she could do about it now.

"So, you're in here, are you?" a voice rang out from behind the grate in the cell door, a deep and husky voice that undoubtedly belonged to one of the larger members. As if on cue, the man unlocked the cell and in walked Kisame. "Why so glum, princess?" he said with a rather large, tooth-filled grin, plastered on his face.

Sakura didn't even open her mouth, instead choosing to look at him, waiting for him to realize why she was in a foul mood.

"Oh, I get it" he said with a look of mock surprise "it's that time of the month, isn't it?" he finished. Sakura felt her face heat up and launched herself at the fish, punching him square in the chest. Though he didn't move one bit, seemingly unharmed from her demonstration of strength. She then noticed the bracelets on her wrists glow a dim blue as they tightened around her thin forearms.

' _Of course, chakra binding bracelets, I wouldn't expect anything else from the famous Akatsuki.'_ she inwardly scoffed. No wonder he hadn't moved. She slowly moved back again as Kisame walked into the room and placed a plate of food on the floor next to her make-shift bed of a worn through blanket and her cloak as a pillow. Kisame dragged his eyes over her little nest and looked at her pointedly.

"You know, if you hadn't hit Hidan, he and Kakuzu wouldn't have been so pissed as to put you down here." His words came out gruff and strained, but Sakura did not fail to notice the smallest amount of concern that just barely laced his contribution to the conversation. She merely raised her head to look him lazily in the eyes.

"You know, I don't care." She then dismissed him and lowered herself onto her substitute mattress. Sakura did not look as Kisame simply scoffed and the material of his shirt shifted noisily as he shrugged his bulky shoulders, exiting and closing the door to the cell.

She was left alone again and she found herself looking back out the window, out at the stars, the moon, and the forest that surrounded the compound, everything she had loved about being a ninja. On missions that were dangerous, she had felt the thrill of the adrenaline shooting through her system, propelling her forward, making her capable of things she had never believed she could do. She had been able to soar amongst those stars once, she had been able to run through a forest like this once, and she had been free once. She had been able to do so many things _once_. Now she couldn't. Not anymore. She was here, trapped, helpless, and alone… with nothing but the moon to keep her company.

 _Hidan POV:_

Silver hair brushed his left shoulder as the pale ninja tilted his head until he heard the telltale 'click' in his neck, relaxing him somewhat, after sitting still for so long. The leader had done nothing but reprimand both himself and Kakuzu, as they had not recognized a high-level Konoha ninja, _apparently,_ he was _supposed_ to have read up on the Konoha workforce, which obviously did not happen considering the situation. His ears were still ringing slightly at the high-pitched scream when he realized a female was in the compound aside from Konan, he dared not go near her.

Hidan had the urge to crack his neck again, but he knew it would not alleviate the sudden stress he felt, no matter how many bones in his body he broke; he could not seem to relieve the tension. It had subsided slightly while in Sand, maybe it was the heat or some sort of delusion from it, but every time that sultry voice swayed its way to his ear, he relaxed if only a little.

It was a few moments before Hidan took in his surroundings to find that his feet had carried him to the ' _guest housing'_ located in the basement of the rather large compound they currently inhabited, outside her cell. Then again, before he knew, his hand was reaching for the door, only to flinch away from the handle. At that, he just stood there, contemplating what exactly he was doing there, standing outside her cell door. Before anyone could see him, he quickly left without another glance behind him at the door that seemed to pull him back. He decided he was simply tired, he just needed to sleep.

 _Tsunade POV:_

The blonde haired woman sat at her desk, painted fingers tapping impatiently on her polished wooden desk, anxious and restless. Tsunade had finished all of her paperwork, surprisingly quickly, usually having to stay back late to accomplish anything, but she had needed something, anything, to distract her. So her mind was silenced for the few hours she had concentrated on her files, then sorting them into the drawers across the room in the appropriate places, completing all of her work. It was not long before the sun hit the highest point in the sky and Tsunade's thoughts were again buzzing around her head with both horrible and terrifying scenarios.

It had been nearly a whole day since Sakura was supposed to have arrived back in the village, and she had yet to return, causing great distress for all those close to her. Both Ino and Naruto had visited in the past few hours periodically to ask if she had any information on the pinkette's whereabouts, each leaving with exactly the same answer as before. No.

If she did not come back soon, Tsunade thought she might be sending out search parties, for either a sheepishly smiling, bright and young kunoichi whom had merely lost her way, or the far more morbid alternative.

Her body.


End file.
